Welcome to Star Wars Celebration IV Week!

Bill and Allen will be travelling out here to sunny California on Tuesday for what will be the event of the summer...well at least until Comic-Con comes along in July!

No really, C4 is going to be beyond huge! Tomorrow I'll start getting those last minute things ready; packing, laundry, putting batteries in my lightsaber, etc. I remember back to Celebration III when a few of us stood in line at the UPS store talking to one of the coordinators from Gen Con. He said that they were already in talks with Lucasfilm for a very 'tentative' Celebration IV which 'may' take place during the 30th anniversary of the first film. All of this was just a few lines on a piece of paper back then (not unlike the outline for the prequel trilogy). And now here we are!! It's real, it's happening here, practically right down the street (or freeway rather) from where I now live!

Once it begins on Thursday I really don't expect to see much of the outside world for 5 days, nor would I want to. O.K. so seeing the sunlight now again wouldn't be such a bad thing.

And so the week of the 30th Anniversary of the original release of "Star Wars" begins. My God has it really been 30 years since the photo above was taken outside Mann's Chinese Theater? We'll be heading to this historic spot on Wednesday so Bill and Allen can see where it all began. Unfortunately they really missed the mark during this oh-so-important anniversary. The original film will NOT be playing there in any capacity this week or especially on Friday! Once again, HUGE missed opportunity. It reminds me of when MTV couldn't get Prince to sing "1999" on New Year's Eve that year. My thinking: you do WHATEVER you have to do to MAKE THIS HAPPEN! Because it will never come again like this. Of course they did not get Prince and on Friday, May 25th the Chinese Theater will be playing some other summer film, blah, blah, blah.

So much for history. But hey we'll still be having an amazing time...

1 Week Until Celebration IV!

"Stay on target..."

"Spider-Man 3" Review

O.K. now I can finally post my review for probably the biggest movie of the summer. Too bad it's not as good as the other two.

SPOILER ALERT: If you did not see the film yet (which by now most of you have) than stop reading now!

My first thought when the movie finished and the credits rolled was that there was just too much going on. The bottom line: you absolutely did not need Venom. Certainly he is a major fan favorite. But why not leave him for someone else to tackle after San Raimi is done. Venom of course was the add on that Avi Arad and the studio talked Raimi into including. It was pretty apparent at Comic-Con last year that Venom was not his idea or interest. He is a classic Spider-Man fan and needed to stay true by mining that treasured era. You could see his original vision for the film despite the inclusion of too many characters.

Here's what seemed to be Raimi's original concept: Spidey is now accepted by everyone, his relationship with MJ flourishes, but some unfinished business threatens all of that. Sandman was to be one of only two villians, the other being Harry, the New Goblin. In short, Sandman turns out to be the real killer of Uncle Ben and Peter Parker becomes obsessed with bringing him to his own personal justice. This obsession becomes so great that it threatens his relationship with MJ and the good person he really is inside. Meanwhile Harry finally unleashes his revenge on Peter/Spider-Man.

Again, this appeared to be what was planned. Then along comes Venom. You didn't need Eddie Brock nor Gwen Stacey. They were just in the way. How convenient that right at the moment when Eddie is praying to God for the death of Peter Parker, Peter just happens to be up in the bell tower of the church trying to remove the alien symbiant. Eddie just happens to wander right under him, seeing who Spider-Man really is and getting the goo on him at the same time. All too quick and tiddy, like we needed to move things along because there was just way too much happening in the story. Also it seemed very much like a 'we need to wrap this up' moment when Harry's butler came into the Goblin lair to confess that he noticed the fatal wounds to Henry's father was by his own hand. That could have and should have been played out better with a bit more realization on Harry's end.

Basically the whole black suit thing made things a little weird at times. Peter walking down the street being Joe Cool was funny. Walking into a store to buy a black suit, then dancing out the door, was even funnier. However the big dance number with Gwen just to make MJ jeolous seemed over the top and a bit like "The Mask". I cringed at least twice.

The ending was sort of like a big video game. Plus it seemed like they were at the point in the story where somebody finally said, 'O.K. enough plot, now it's time to kick ass and save MJ from high height danger again'. Harry showing up to save the day did not have the emotional punch it should have. J. Jonah Jameson's gag scene with the little girl and her camera was ill placed.

All in all this could have been a great human emotion story. It certainly was trying to be, and you could see that with the actors taking cue from Raimi. Peter finally coming to grips with his Uncle's death and being able to forgive the man who committed the murder. Even though that kind of messes with the original comic which had that guy from the first film who Peter let get away as the killer indeed.

All of the major players, as always, were great. Thomas Hayden Church was perfect in the role of Sandman. Toby Maguire and Kirsten Dunst, right on the money yet again. Perhaps on a second viewing (which is defintely in the cards) I might come to appreciate those moments I did enjoy. But for now I have to say it was certainly not as good as the first two. At two and a half hours, the film was just bloated with no room for anyone to breathe.

Hands down, Bruce Campbell stole the movie!

New Wave Entertainment: Officially Booked!

After almost 4 years of trying to get my foot in the door at New Wave Entertainment, one of THE TOP DVD and trailer post houses, I have finally been booked for my first gig!

Having updated my reel and resume I managed to get 6 of 20 packages out the door last week to various post facilities, most of which being trailer houses. I originally wanted to have all 20 ready to mail, but it was getting late on a work night and I underestimated the time to package everything. Yesterday I mailed the remaining 14. But I am SO glad I chose New Wave as one of the first 6 because they called yesterday morning to ask my availability.

I worked this week on a teaser trailer with KO Creative again and that project ended today. Sam, my contact at New Wave, wanted me to come in on Monday, saying if I was finished early on the other project to give him a call. So today I called and he said it would be great if I could come in tomorrow. YAY! I am so happy!

Wow. New Wave Entertainment. This is, in fact, huge.

I understand that they've tapered back working on theatrical trailers. However that does still seem to be in the mix for them and something I intend to pursue along with the DVD content.

Tomorrow I begin working on the director's intro and a behind the scenes featurette for the "Troy" Extended Director's Cut DVD.

2 Weeks Until Celebration IV!

"Almost there..."

Mini Dealership Photos Now Online!

Click on the shot of my Mini or "Photos" to go to a short gallery of images taken while picking up my Mini at Bob Smith BMW.

It's just insane to me looking at that pic of Hilary (who sold me the car) handing over the keys and thinking about a time not so long ago when I was wondering how I could ever even afford a used car much less a brand new one. Then when I had a vehicle I didn't know how I'd manage to finance the next one. Now look where I am...who would have ever thought!

Two things are missing from the car at the moment. The Union Jack rear view mirror cap and the back plate Union Jack frame. The frame they had to order. The rear view mirror cap was accidentally broken while they were trying to snap it on so a new one was also ordered. Hilary told me both would be in the mail this week. There's a couple of shots of me ceremoniously bringing forth a Union Jack keychain I bought two years ago, knowing the day would come when I'd clip my new keys to it.

My first day driving back to work made me think of Peter Parker in "Spider-Man 3" walking down the street, being the cool dude. All I needed was to stop into a clothing store, pick up a black suit, and do a little dance on the way out.

The review of that is up next.

I'll have more photos of my new baby very soon...trust me there's more!

Mini Photos and "Spider-Man 3" Review Coming Shortly...

I am now the proud owner of a 2007 Mini Cooper! Yaaaaaaaayy!!!!

I had to work a pretty full day today so I haven't had time to post any of the pics of me at the dealership picking up my new baby. Tomorrow night will be much better so look for those, as well as a full review of "Spider-Man 3", very shortly.

The Magic Words: My Mini is Here!

Wow! That was an early surprise. Thought the car would have a few more days at the distribution center. But they called this morning first thing from Bob Smith Mini with the happy news; The new baby has arrived at the dealership! Yeah Baby!!!

Saturday afternoon at 5pm I have an appointment to go finalize the paperwork and bring her home. It's hard to believe 6 weeks (to the day) passed so relatively quickly. The morning and early afternoon will be final prep for me. Heading to the bank to pull out a check for the remainder of the balance I'm putting down, among other things. I can't believe the day has finally arrived.

Expect photos of this historic day (and there will be many) to be posted over the weekend. Happy motoring to me!

"Super Friends" WASSUP!!!

Inspired by the current project I'm working on, the "Super Powers: Galactic Guardians" DVD, I took a moment during lunch today to poke around YouTube looking for the original "Super Friends" open from the early 70's. Not only did I find it, but also found THIS!...



THIS is truly a ROTFLOL moment! I must have watched this 7 times today, each time pratically falling off my chair in hysterics!

Iron Man Revealed!

This is it! Niiiiicc-ah!!!! The first pic of Iron Man's Mark III armor from the new movie. Wow! Great updated design and still very much the look from the comics, color scheme and all. Click on the pic to go to the Entertainment Weekly article it came from. Director Jon Favreau says he will be at Comic-Con in July with a couple of teaser trailers and you know Robert Downey, Jr. will probably be in tow. Now I want to see the armor move...and fight and fly and fire repulser rays, etc., etc., etc! This comes from Stan Winston who as you may recall designed the armor for some robot from the future who liked killing women named Sarah Connor.

3 Weeks Until Celebration 4!

Tick...tock...tick...tock...tick...tock.

And Now...The Month That Really Matters!

Now that we've left the uneventful April, which I'm frankly glad is over, we can move on to the amazing anniversaries, events, movies, and toys.

First up, welcome to "Spider-Man 3" week! Yes, tomorrow night is the midnight screening at The Arclight in Hollywood and I am pumped. I even have the O.K. at work to come in a little later in the morning. The producer I'm working with is a comic fan and we're in the middle of working on a comic book project so he understands...but more about that in a moment.

My Mini has finally docked at Port of Hueneme, about 30 miles from here, where it will move over to the Mini distribution center for final inspections, etc. Still waiting to see this info roll over on the Mini site, but I did speak with the saleswoman
at the dealership today. Had to line up the installation of my alarm. She told me that it is in fact at the dock. Of course there is unloading and customs to go through which will take some time.

The Aquaman project I was to work on at The Cannery went to another editor because the schedule didn't mesh with me finishing up at KO Creative two weeks ago. Instead I am working on a 10 minute featurette for the "Super Powers: Galactic Guardians" DVD. That will be finished by next Monday. At which time there is nothing new lined up for me at The Cannery until the first of June. Time not to relax but to push forward with my career now.

I now, FINALLY, have 20 reels and resumes ready to mail off to a myriad of trailer and DVD post houses. There were a few last minute tweeks and revisions.

Thanks to Crystal helping me do a major overhaul on my resume, it's much more condensed and precise, bringing all the important points about my work and experience more to the surface. Over the last few years it had become bogged down with an overage of information and was going to take up two and a half pages. She managed to get it down to one!

Tonight I'll finish up labeling the DVD's and packaging everything for tomorrow's mail.

Last week I had all four of my wisdom teeth removed. Been eating soup, yogurt, mashed potatoes, and ice cream for the last week. Because of this I've dropped 8 lbs. I'll be ready for more solid food this weekend thankfully. Went in for my follow up appointment yesterday and the dentist said everything was progressing really well. The discomforted has finally ebbed and I'm feeling much better now.